


The Happiest Place on Earth

by Team_Alpha_Wolf_Squadron



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:08:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23883532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Team_Alpha_Wolf_Squadron/pseuds/Team_Alpha_Wolf_Squadron
Summary: Bruce booked him and his family on a five day trip to Disneyworld with the idea that it might bring them together.
Relationships: Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne
Comments: 24
Kudos: 249





	The Happiest Place on Earth

“Up!” Bruce screamed for, he honestly didn’t know at this point. But scream he did and still he didn’t hear anyone stir. “Up, all of you!” He shoved his passport into his bag, hauling it around his shoulders as he went to the room next to his. 

Just like he thought Tim was dead to the world. Thankfully, and Bruce was pretty sure this was the only child he was going to see this from, Tim had packed the night before. Meaning Bruce only had to check that Tim had everything in his carry on, grab his phone, shove it in his own pants and hoist Tim onto his shoulders. Tim would complain, the kid was wearing his superboy shirt after all, one that had stains Bruce was ignoring the origins of, but Tim should have thought about changing into something decent last night if he was going to ignore Bruce this morning.

He chucked Tim’s suitcase down the stairs, putting Tim’s carry on with his own as he barged into the next door down. “Up!” he hefted Tim up higher as he opened the curtains, Dick hissing like a cat away from the light. “I mean it. We were late five minutes ago so up. Up Dick!” One hand on Tim’s thighs he grabbed Dick’s ankle and dragged the kid out of bed. 

It started kicking as soon as it realised there was no mattress beneath it, Dick clawing at the bedsheet. “I’m up. I’m up!”

“No shower. You lost your shower privilege. Get your bag and be downstairs before I get there or so help me Richard I will leave without you.” He meant it too. He never should have agreed to drive everyone to the airport. 

Tim and Dick up, he knocked on Damian’s door, he, at least awake when Bruce looked in. His bags were packed, which was a good sign. What wasn’t a good sign was the way Bruce could see the tears pricking the corner of Damian’s eyes as he hugged Titus to his chest.

“Damian,” Bruce sighed, “Titus will be fine. Kon’s coming to pick him and Alfred up at noon, and you know him and Krypto get on.” Clark promised to look after the cow too. The turkey Bruce was pretending not to know about as well. “I know this is hard, but we’re only going for a week. Please be downstairs before I get there?”

Damian nodded, turning away to wipe his eyes as he grabbed his bags.

Three out of five. That was good. He probably should have started earlier but they were making good time. Cass’s door he knocked on too. “Cass?” please be up, please be up, “Sweetie we’re meeting downstairs to leave. Make sure you have your passport.”

The door opened, a thumbs up sticking out before it closed again. 

One more to go.

Jason’s door he knocked on, then knocked on again. Then figured he was going to be yelled at either way and stuck his head in. The curtains were drawn, almost blinding Bruce and threatening to send Tim to the ground. When his eyes adjusted he noticed the lack of bags and boy meaning, maybe, one of his kids was actually ready to go.

Of course he was, Bruce remembered, Jason was always punctual. God his life had been so simple when it had just been him and Jason going on vacation.

He closed the door, wandering back over to his room to pick up his and Tim’s carry ons. It was a struggle, but Bruce made it down the stairs with Tim intact and found a foyer full of grumpy children. Sans Jason who was practically beaming next to Alfred like some kind of emotional vampire. 

Still, this was good. “Are your bags in the car?” He got four nods, “Passports on your person?” Another four nods and considering Bruce had taken Tim’s out and put it in his pocket he knew Tim was good for it too. “Okay, everyone say goodbye to Alfred, wish him a happy time in London.”

“God it’s like we’re five,” Jason muttered, yet he was the first one to throw his arms around Alfred and wish him a happy vacation, the others following suit. 

“Okay, like I told Damian, Kon and Clark are coming at noon, our plane leaves in four hours and we need to get there in under one. Damian, Tim and Cass are in the back. Jason you’re in the front, Dick, fight with Cass whether you want to sit with Tim or Damian.” He hated that freaking minivan like nothing else but he had to admit it was helpful in times like this. Especially because Damian couldn’t argue with him while in the minivan. Not after Bruce had went through the state laws and asked Gordon at the last gala they attended what would happen to a little boy who broke them since he wasn’t a vigilante now was he?

So he strapped Tim into the back, made sure Damian’s car seat was clicked in properly and piled into the front thanking God that only one of his kids was actually going to school. If he had to do this every morning he wasn’t sure he’d even have them enrolled. Bruce was just fine with home tutors after all.

They made it out of the gates, Jason’s feet coming onto the dash just before they closed behind the car. “Can I charge my phone?” Jason asked. Meaning can he play his music.

“If it’s quiet, yes. We have an hour until the airport and I want as little chaos as possible before then, please?”

He saw Jason’s smirk out the corner of his eye, yet, strangely enough, there was nothing but soothing violins and the ballet of the nutcracker filling their journey through so much traffic Bruce’s knuckles were aching on the wheel as they pulled into the long stay carpark. 

“Right,” he made sure the doors were still locked as he turned in his seat, “Dick, Jason, you check everyone in while I wake Tim.” He couldn’t have people thinking he’d drugged Tim. It was bad enough he was in a supershirt and boxers, still asleep and they’d probably think Bruce was trafficking him. 

Jason seemed to sense that too since he snorted, “Come on B, just let the kid sleep.”

“Absolutely not.” He flicked off the child locks, going around to help Damian out of his seat before waking the beast that was his third son.

Tim was groggy, grumpy and disorientated. A bad combination if Bruce had ever seen one. It only got worse when Tim’s mind caught up with the night before, the familiar setting of the airport and the breeze flowing between his naked legs. 

“What the hell!” followed Bruce as he yanked one of Tim’s feet up, sliding one of those god awful croc shoes on his feet. “Bruce! You didn’t think to wake me before we got here? Oh my god. Oh my GOD. I’m  _ in my underwear Bruce _ what the fuck!”

“Language,” Bruce muttered, grabbing the other foot.

“Language? Language! This is fuc-”

He handed Tim’s phone over, shuffling the kid in front, “Your bag is with Dick, he’s checking you in, if you hurry you can probably change before he gives it to the receptionist.”

That shut him up, Bruce smothering a smile as Tim yanked both front and back edges of his shirt down like it didn’t already dwarf him and waddle through the airport doors. 

Check in went smoothly once Tim had finished his tantrum, changed and figured out the airport password. They grabbed breakfast, and Bruce an extra coffee for Tim to smooth things over, taking a breather before tackling security. Speaking of, he took his kids aside one by one before that and patted them down. If he found so much as a pencil sharpened to a stabbing point in one of their pockets he was gonna be pissed.

Everyone was clean however. They really had taken his fifty slide powerpoint seriously. 

Good.

“Okay,” he rifled in his bag, grabbing the paperwork he needed out and sliding it to Tim and Damian respectively, “Doctors notes. Remember your medicine is essential, if they try to detain you, call for me.”

Tim rolled his eyes, but Damian still had respect for him so one of them took the severity of missed medication seriously.

They split off into two groups, as was the plan for most of the holiday. Rotating of course, but Bruce needed at least one set of adult eyes on Damian at all times. He trusted his son, obviously, it was other people he didn’t. Airports were one of the worst places for child snatching. Mostly everywhere was actually, but in an airport someone could take Damian on a plane and Bruce wouldn’t see him for a good seven hours at least. Who knew what could happen in that timeframe.

Tim was a higher priority through security however, so Bruce trusted Jason to keep Damian safe and between him and Cass in the line as he made sure the man scrutinizing Tim’s antibiotics knew they were actually prescribed to him. It took a bit of convincing. In fact they were still waiting to get scanned by the time Cass was tying her shoes up again. 

Security done, it was a waiting game, and every second here reminded Bruce why he didn’t like airports. Why he didn’t like flying in general. It was okay if it was something of his own make or his own jet. But commercial, maybe he was a little biased since, well, private jets crashed more than commercial, but anxiety didn’t always make sense.

Dick flopped into his lap, smushing his face every which way until he was “Comfortable?” Dick hummed, snoring not long after. That was fine, Bruce could wake Dick up. It was the other one that took some time. The one that, “Cass could you maybe grab him a slushie? Something with sugar? And get Damian some gummies?” Dick grumbled, “Get everyone some gummies please.”

Cass nodded, taking Tim who was steadily leaning his head down to the chair next to him to the nearest store. 

“I have flew before father,” Damian huffed, head popping next to Bruce’s.

“I know,” not commercial with Bruce however so he didn’t know if Damian’s ears popped or not. “It’s more for me anyway,” he lied. 

Damian’s nose scrunched up as he frowned, “But you have never shown discomfort when flying before.”

“You haven’t flown economy with me Damian. Trust me, you’ll be thankful for the gummies.” He should have taken the jet. He should have flown them over himself. He could have gotten there without going through half the hassle too. 

“Why are we flying economy again?” Damian pouted.

“Because he lost a bet,” Jason said, head buried in a book on Damian’s other side. 

“A bet?” he demanded.

Bruce could feel a headache coming on. “I told Jason if he managed to get all four tyres off the batmobile before midnight I would donate the money I would have spent on a five star holiday and planned it-”

“Planned it like a budgeting mother,” Jason finished.

“Yes, thank you Jason..” A bad decision. He knew better than to bet against Jason. Not in a battle of thievery. He was a man of his word anyway so here they were, and here Jason was reaping the benefits of an economic holiday. Complete with minivan driven by himself to the airport and a hotel that was on the resort, but only cost about five hundred for the week for all six of them. God they were all sharing a room. This was going to be hell.

“Boop.” He caught Dick’s hand before it could boop his nose again. “It’s going to be fine Bruce. Deep breaths.”

He tried. God he tried, and he hoped that Alfred was having a good time sitting in his first class lounge this afternoon. 

Their flight was delayed about an hour, which didn’t do anything for Bruce’s anxiety because why the hell could they not find the freaking pilot? Why was it the pilot that was the issue? Was he drunk? Was he sleeping? Had he not slept enough last night? The other pilot was here. 

“Deep breaths,” Dick said again as first class boarded, Bruce’s boarding pass crinkling almost beyond recognisable. 

They couldn’t all get seats together, which meant that a fair bit of shuffling had to go on before Bruce was satisfied Damian wouldn’t be propositioned into sex slavery on the plane. Cass took his hand almost as soon as they took their own seats, her head swivelling around more than once as she did checks that Bruce had done four times already himself. It looked like he wasn’t the only one a little nervous to fly economy. He didn’t think that was a good thing either. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with it after all. Just that it made Bruce panic so badly he was pretty sure he was a few bits of turbulence away from a panic attack.

Gummies were shared. The announcer came on and the safety instructions given. Then they were circling around and around and around the airport. “Why aren’t we taking off?” Bruce breathed.

Cass’s hand clenched on his, another gummy appearing under his nose. He took it easy, his jaw clicking it was that tight as he hoped everything was alright with the plane.

It turned out there had just been traffic on the tarmac. A simple explanation. 

“Two hours,” Cass said, more to herself than Bruce.

“Two hours,” Bruce repeated, head hitting the seat as they took off. 

Two and a half hours actually. Two and a half hours of torture. Of being confined in a space that cramped his legs and brought forth a claustrophobic fear he hadn’t even been aware he had. Of the seatbelt sign being on the whole time, and Bruce having to chance being yelled at by the stewardess to check on his kids.

The landing left Bruce unable to move for a good five minutes, him and Cass both clutching the seatrests. He may have even prayed a little. 

But they made it to the ground, and after half an hour they were able to file off. 

Dick handed Tim over as soon as they made it out of the tunnel. Of course the kid was asleep. Quite frankly Bruce wished he was the same. Regardless, they were officially on vacation now, and Bruce was going to do his damn best to make sure his kids got enough sleep, food and fun they could actually be kids. 

They had a headcount before they went to get their bags, and considering they were on a budget, Bruce discovered two ubers were cheaper than one large one. They split off, Bruce checking each uber himself before getting into his own and hoping to God his kids made it to the hotel.

Florida on an evening, especially in August, was hotter than what Bruce was used to. The air was nearly nonexistent, and Bruce knew, come tomorrow evening, his hair would be curly. Damian’s might be too actually. He’d never really taken Damian somewhere humid before. Usually when they went to Kansas it was during the winter, when snow was littering the streets and the cows were trapped inside for Damian to cuddle and draw to his hearts content. 

He’d find out anyway. Jason’s hair curled. Jason’s hair was already curly, when it got hot it actually stuck in ringlets on top of his head. The other three didn’t. He’d need to get Tim a hat however. 

The uber pulled up, all three of his children stepping out with bags and suitcases intact. “Told you we’d be fine,” Jason said, handing a suitcase to Dick.

They checked in. Or Bruce did. The others were too busy showing Damian the cardboard cut out of Mickey Mouse, Cass reading the menu for breakfast. At least that was included. 

He typed the shuttle timetable into his phone before grabbing his kids and spending the entire one floor elevator ride to their room wondering how long the kids were going to fight for. The room they had was big enough, two double beds and a double sofa bed too. TV. Ensuite. A good value for money really. The problem was he had six kids and they all sort of hated each other. 

Yet when they got into the room, some sort of discussion must have happened before this since not one voice was raised as everyone bounced on beds and paired off. Huh. 

Damian set his stuff on the sofabed, looking expectantly at Bruce to open it out. Okay. He had Damian, that was fine. 

He opened the sofa out, rifling through his own bag to start setting things out. Their tickets were for tomorrow, meaning they had the rest of the night free to do whatever they wanted. “I’m going to go for a swim,” Bruce decided. He hadn’t swam in a while. Not for fun anyway. Usually it was under duress or a training exercise. He couldn’t remember the last time the pool at the manor had been used. “If you want to explore, please be careful. I know you’re adults so, just, be careful.” There. Not too overbearing.

He grabbed his trunks.

“Oh, and if Damian isn’t coming with me, I need one of you to be with him. You know you can’t be alone this week Damian.” They’d had this conversation. Bruce had made sure they’d had their conversation, so Damian only had a slight pout when he nodded.

Okay. 

He changed, finding Jason already back into his book, Tim sleeping and the other two fighting over the remote. Damian, when Bruce rounded the small partition, had changed into swimming shorts Bruce knew for a fact Dick had to have picked out since there were little yellow ducks littering the sides. “Will the pool even be open father?” 

Bruce nodded, holding the door for Damian to slip out. “I looked on our way up. It’s open until ten,” and since it was only eight, that meant two hours of lounging in the humid air. 

“What sort of scenario are we running then? Or are we working on endurance?” Damian asked, eyes expectantly on Bruce.

He had to stifle a curse at Talia as he registered what Damian thought this was. Hell he cursed himself. They needed this vacation, Damian more so than any of them. “Actually, I was thinking we could float around for a little. Maybe do some laps.” his legs were cramped from that plane ride. “Relax.”

“Relax,” Damian repeated. “I see.”

The elevator got to their floor, “You can go stay with your siblings if you like. This is your vacation Damian.” It may not be where Damian wanted to go on vacation but Bruce was sure he could find something to entertain his youngest. 

Damian came into the elevator with him, Bruce surprised when Damian’s hands immediately darted out to press the button. He hid a smile. At least that was one thing Talia hadn’t trained out of him. All kids liked to press buttons. 

The pool was just outside the restaurant, small lights illuminating the poolside and jacuzzi. It wasn’t the largest pool. Someone who came to this side of Florida only came for one thing after all, and that was the parks Bruce had booked for the rest of the week. It was nice, anyway, and with no one really out at this time of night, most of the people in this place parents with small children or adults cruising the bar, Bruce had enough space to do laps in peace. 

Damian did his best to keep pace with him. Whether because he thought it was fun, or he simply didn’t know how to have fun in a pool without some sort of target Bruce wasn’t too sure about. Whichever it was, Bruce was on vacation with his kids, meaning he caught Damian before he could go off to do another lap. “How about a race?”

Damian squinted “A race?” 

“First one to finish… three laps? Gets to pick what we do first tomorrow,” Bruce proposed.

That squint intensified, Damian’s little nose scrunching as well, “But I’m the only one here.”

“And the others will have to deal with it.” They’d probably go off and do their own thing but Bruce would stick with Damian and do what he wanted first tomorrow anyway. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

Damian’s eyes were so narrow Bruce wasn’t sure he could actually see out of them. Yet, “Very well.”

One hand on the poolside, feet against the wall Bruce counted down, “Three, two- bye Damian,” and took off, hearing the short yell before he dunked his head under the water.

He pulled out all the stops. He didn’t hit the opposite wall, he grabbed Damian more than once, slowing him down, and after the first few angry growls he had Damian sniggering as he tried to pull himself to the end, Bruce’s hands slowing him down every step of the way.

He didn’t care that he lost. That hadn’t been the reason for the race anyway. The reason had been seeing Damian’s eyes gleam as he chortled, “I won!” laughing right in Bruce’s face like a kid should.

“You did,” Bruce sighed, “I’ll have to try harder next time.”

“Or,” Damian calmed down, “Actually participate. If you hadn’t started cheating I would have not won and we know it father.”

Bruce pursed his lips, “Do we though? You’re getting taller Damian, and I know you spend more time in the water than me.” He had swimming lessons at school these days. 

Damian’s frown was back as he mulled that over. “Still... you are bigger than me. Your long limbs give you an advantage.”

“Maybe,” Bruce agreed. He wasn’t going to make Damian feel like he’d been cheated out of a win if he could help it. “Regardless, you won, so you get to choose what we do first. Any ideas?”

The good mood vanished as Damian shrugged, the water almost to his chin as he tried to put his feet on the floor. God Damian was tiny. “Whatever Grayson wants to do I guess.”

“Dickie?”

Damian shrugged, “He is the one who wanted to come here. I do not mind what we do.”

Huh. He sunk down, flicking some water Damian’s way, the kid actually going under the water before emerging, feet scrambling for some kind of purchase again. Bruce took him up, getting a knee under his butt and ignoring the way his heart panged when Damian looked so surprised to see it happen. “You think we’re here because of Dick?”

Damian’s face twisted, “Todd then?”

Bruce shook his head, sighing. He picked Damian up, setting him on the side and lifting himself up too. “I chose this place you know.” Shocker, he knew. The others had been more than surprised when Bruce slid Disneyworld packages their way after patrol. “Dick wanted to go to Europe. Jason wanted to go with Alfred to London,” no surprise. “Cass wanted to show us around Japan,” and Bruce had considered that since there was a Disneyland there, “And I don’t think Tim actually cared.” he didn’t think Tim had even known they were going on vacation until last night, Bruce telling him to pack a bag because they actually were going on holiday Tim.

“I do not care either,” Damian said.

Bruce nodded, he’d known that. Damian, when asked for his input, had said somewhere Grayson would enjoy. “Well, I chose it. I chose it because I knew there would be something for everyone here, as cliche as that is.” It was in every brochure he had received. 

Damian snorted, “I doubt it.”

“Really.” He wondered if Damian had actually ever seen a Disney film before. Dick had to have tried to show him one. “Well, I know you like drawing. You’re an artist right?”

It took a minute for Damian to nod, Bruce sensing there was something there he’d missed. Damian loved drawing right? He wasn’t just doing it because he thought it was what some people did to relax was he? 

Still, Damian had nodded, “What do you know of Walt Disney?”

Another minute, then, “He created films that Grayson likes to sing on our family walks sometimes.”

‘Family walks’? Was that what they were calling it? He kind of liked it. “Well, he also was an artist.”

“Tt, I have seen Moana.”

Right, that new stuff. Bruce was pretty sure he clocked out after the Princess and the Frog. “Have you seen the 2d stuff though? Snow White? That was revolutionary Damian. The art is gorgeous too. A lot of them hired artists from all over the world to work on their projects. Scenery artists, character artists, special effects. They have a few stores and featurettes in the parks that show this kind of thing off, and since I know you like art, I thought this might be interesting to you. Maybe something you might want to study in college.” His son was good enough. Damian was more than good enough.

Damian’s head snapped to his, “College?”

He supposed he was going to have this talk with Damian sooner or later. “You don’t have to go to college of course. I don’t care. Whatever you want to do with your life Damian is up to you. I just want you to be happy.”

Something had made Damian shake a little. It was a good few minutes before he said, “So, if I did want to go to college and study art, you would not mind it?”

“Why would I mind?” He was dying for the day Damian let him see his artwork in total. He had big plans for it. Galleries, commissions, all sorts.

“But it is not a proper career. And what about…  _ my inheritance _ ?” Batman he meant. “Mother made it clear that I had a set path and an artist is not on that path.”

God almighty Bruce had screwed up here. He turned so he was more full on, “Damian look at me,” he thanked every God that might exist that Jason had trained him to deal with delicate situations like this, otherwise who knows how he might have handled this with just Dick for experience. “Your mother and I have expectations. But those expectations boil down to keeping you safe, and keeping you happy. I know she might have said different to you in the past. But she left you with me for a reason. She trusted me to do what she couldn’t and give you a life that doesn’t have to be concerned with your inheritance.”

Maybe not entirely true, but Bruce had learned making the parents the bad guy was never going to work. At the end of the day kids loved their parents, even if they were the worst human beings alive, so Bruce had to change how he approached things. 

“If you want to be an artist, be an artist. You’re probably in one of the most privileged positions to actually pursue this as a career. And you’re good Damian, you’re really good so if you did go down this route I know you’d be fine.” 

Damian bit his lip, his feet kicking the lip of the water. “What sort of art will be present here?”

Bruce smiled, grabbing a towel and ruffling Damian’s hair, drying the pair of them off. He grabbed his phone as soon as he was through the door, turning the TV off when four sets of snores proved they were not, in fact, watching it, and looked up the scenery in Sleeping Beauty.

Damian loved it. He didn’t say it out loud but his eyes lit up. His finger swiping and swiping and swiping its way through Pocahontas, Brother Bear, Hercules, Mulan, Cinderella. It got better when Damian discovered concept art, and that there were actual ‘art of’ books. Bruce sort of felt guilty that he kept Damian up late, since both of them struggled to wake up in the morning, but it was worth it since, as Bruce stood in line to make six waffles in the breakfast buffet, Damian came up to him and asked, “Can we go see one of those animation stores first?”

“Of course we can.”

He told everyone the plan once they’d been fed, watered and made sandwiches to sneak in the special fanny packs Alfred had gleefully gave them before leaving them to pack for the night. 

“Wait so we’re shopping first?” Tim asked. “Shouldn’t we do that last?”

“We are not shopping we are looking at the artwork,” Damian said.

“I promised Damian he could have first dibs,” Bruce said before a fight broke out.

“So we’re going to the Magic Kingdom first then?” Dick chimed in. “‘Cause I thought we were gonna do that last and watch the fireworks.”

“We’re doing the Animal Kingdom first,” Bruce told them, which got another look from Damian. Oh, “Did I not tell you they had a safari?”

“No!” Damian near screeched, and either that or the sugar finally hitting had him telling everyone to hurry up and fill their waters before the lions went to sleep. “They’re very difficult to spot at the best of times, if we don’t catch them early they’ll hide themselves away.”

Bruce made sure he had Damian’s sketchbook in his backpack, pencils, eraser, sharpener, and sunscreen to slather himself and Tim in before they stood in line for the shuttle. The first stop was the animation experience, no matter how antsy Damian was to see the animals. Bruce had promised and if they spaced it out just right they’d manage to digest their breakfast enough doing Damian’s activities that they wouldn’t throw up on the rides. 

“You know most kids have an allowance to spend every day,” Jason chimed when Damian was spending a little too long looking at one of the animation books.

Bruce sighed, “Fine. One hundred?” Jason nodded, “One hundred a day, and you buy your own lunch.” He handed the money over, “And don’t buy anything if you’re not willing to hold it.” Words that fell on deaf ears as most of his kids were sporting Mickey ears as soon as they walked outside the store.

The safari wasn’t exactly fast, so Bruce supposed he could agree they hadn’t went overboard with their spending so far. Mickey ears could be carried after all. And easily stored. Not like a giant simba that, “Dick, no, put it down.”

They sort of split up after the safari. The others wanted faster rides, while Damian wanted to see the animals again. While Bruce was all for rides, he’d never seen Damian so happy as he twisted in his seat to try and see the zebras. 

So, “Meet back here at eight for the river of light. And get something to eat, please.” They were already walking off. “And put sunscreen on your brother. You know he burns easily.”

Cass gave a thumbs up, Bruce supposing he’d have to wait and see if they’d actually follow through with that promise when they met up again. He should have packed more aloe vera. 

Sighing, he herded Damian back to the safari line. It was a very relaxed morning actually. Damian, as soon as he got his sketchbook, did some quick gesture drawings of the animals the safari stopped to look at, and after they found a bench where he filled them in with more detail. They watched the apes for a while. Then the big cats before stopping for the sandwiches they’d packed that morning. 

The afternoon Bruce herded Damian to a few more relaxing stops in the Animal Kingdom. He wouldn’t appreciate the character rides since he didn’t know who they were, but maybe the entertainment would be okay. Bruce was sure he spotted Cass sitting in on the Lion King show, but since they lost her as soon as it finished he couldn’t be too sure. 

Regardless, they trolled the stores, Bruce maybe slipping Damian a little more money when he found a few art books that even Bruce had to admit were fascinating. 

“Are you going to go on the rides tomorrow?” Bruce asked as they waited, Damian’s nose in a book, for the rest of them for the night show.

“I’m sure Grayson will drag me on some,” Damian agreed.

Bruce nodded, “If you don’t want to go on you don’t have to.” Bruce didn’t mind sitting out on them. “We can go on the more relaxing rides. Or I can find more art stores. Oh, you’ll definitely want your sketchbook for the Magic Kingdom. The architecture is amazing.”

“I don’t mind going on rides,” Damian said. “But if I need a break I can find you?”

Bruce smiled, “That sounds like a plan.”

His kids were late. Even Jason. The reason for why was apparent when they all ambled up in family Disney shirts with one for Bruce and Damian hanging off their arms. Dick was already cackling when he told Bruce they had to wear them tomorrow, ‘Daddy Mouse’ haunting him the whole walk to the river of lights show. 

It was good, Bruce recognising most of the songs they played and actually had the energy to walk back to the shuttle. Unlike the others who had stood in lines or walked around all day. Bruce ended up carrying Cass, she, at least, Bruce took pity on, “Cause she’s your favourite,” Tim joked.

“Because Cass is wearing shoes someone should have told her are not appropriate for Disneyworld.” They were new. Meaning they weren’t broken in. Bruce only knew now because Cass had told him her heels were bleeding and he’d put the dots together. 

“Steph said sneakers,” Cass told him, arms tight around his shoulders, “So I bought new ones. Old ones are…”

“Battered?” Tim suggested.

Cass nodded against his ear. “Battered,” she repeated.

Great. “Do you have them with you anyway?” Another nod. “Okay. We’ll put some aloe and some plasters on your heels-”

“Toes too.”

“Toes too,” Bruce agreed, “And hope that they feel better tomorrow. I don’t want to leave you behind,” he joked.

She tightened her arms, “No,” whined in his ear. 

The rest of the brood complained the whole way back to their room, collapsing onto their beds with groans more dramatic than going toe to toe with Croc. “Showers,” Bruce reminded them. He wasn’t going to hear them arguing tomorrow. “I’m going for a swim.” He just wasn’t tired.

Damian was. While Bruce’s legs were long, Damian’s were not, and while Bruce hadn’t done a lot of walking today, Damian probably had. There was also the fact that, “Dami I got animal photos if you want them,” Dick offered up, meaning Damian was glued to Damian’s side the rest of the night.

He was swimming for half an hour before he became aware of another body watching him. Tim, burnt beyond all hell, was lying like a beached whale on the side of the pool, waving lazily to Bruce when they locked eyes.

“Are you here to swim?” His shoes were off but that was about it for Tim. God he was going to have to stick with this kid tomorrow.

“Maybe in a bit,” Tim yawned. “According to Damian if I win a swimming race I get to pick where we go tomorrow.”

“Ah.” Was that going to be how this holiday worked then. “What do you want?”

“Well,” he didn’t think he was going to like this, “I know you have this whole Disney thing booked but there’s only like four parks.”

“Right,” Bruce agreed slowly.

“And we might not get back to Florida for a while, and it definitely won’t be on vacation,” Tim went on.

“Get to it.”

“I want to go to Universal,” Tim said.

Crap. “Ah.” Right. He dragged himself out of the pool. Knowing Tim, he had a full blown argument, statistics about kids happiness about returning to the same park in the same holiday and God knows what else to try and persuade Bruce to take him to Universal for their last day. He weighed it up, wondering if he could get away with pushing Tim off before realising who he was talking to and just how easily this kid could get into his bank account. “Okay,” he sighed, “Don’t tell your siblings. It was going to be a surprise, but we were going to go to Universal on Thursday.”

Tim nearly leapt, “Really?”

Bruce nodded, “Really. You’re not the only one who likes Harry Potter you know.” Jason had begged him for three months straight to take them to the farm and get Clark to teach him how to whittle a wand. Nevermind that Bruce wasn’t even sure that Clark could whittle and wands were sold in stores. Eventually he’d managed to push Jason off, promising him that the next time they went to California they’d go to the Studios there. Then Jason had died and, well, he wasn’t wasting another opportunity with his kid, budget or not. “They have dinosaurs there too.” He may or may not be a Jurassic Park fan. Really the kids should have known that since he literally had a dinosaur in the cave.

Tim squealed, honest to God squealed, “Oh my God I’m going to Hogwarts!”

“Voice down Tim,” Bruce hissed. “Remember, don’t tell your siblings.” He had a whole thing planned after all.

Tim nodded, then nodded again, nearly vibrating as he whispered, “oh my god, oh my god,” to himself over and over again.

Tim hung around the pool as Bruce slid back in, lingering on the edge before cooling his burn down in the water, the two of them racing until Tim was so tired he just floated on his back. 

Bruce fetched ice as they went back up, slotting it on the back of Tim’s neck and telling him to take a cold shower before tucking Cass under her covers and grabbing Damian. Jason poked an eye open when Bruce turned his and Dick’s lamp off, one of his fingers twitching in a wave near his face before dropping back to dreamland. 

Sleep was easy to find that night, all of them groggy when they woke the next morning. Tempers were a little short as only Tim had done what Bruce had said and taken a shower the night before. Bruce left them to it, grabbing a table and eating more breakfast than he ever did at home. Tim looked a little better too after two nights of good sleep and a lot of food. 

They were a little later to the parks that morning than they had been the day before. Spirits were still high however, so Bruce focused on that and not on the fact his children were time bombs waiting to go off. Epcot was a good second day park. It had a lot to do there, and considering it wasn’t the most exciting of the parks, more culture than thrills, Bruce settled in for another chilled day.

Their first stop, naturally, were the chinese acrobats, Dick replicating them the rest of the day. He didn’t know at what time, but by noon, Bruce was left with only Cass by his side, Bruce pretty sure one of them had said something about ice cream but, well, it had been ten minutes by now.

He sighed, looking at Cass, “Okay princess, where to?”

Cass was a little more caught up with Disney than Damian. He’d watched a few classics with her when she first came to the manor, hoping the simple stories would help her engage a bit more with the world. He knew who she really wanted to see, the two of them on the hunt for a good hour before Cass tugged his sleeve and pointed to a familiar head of red hair. 

Ariel. “Photo?” Cass asked.

“Anything you want.” The line to see Ariel was long but Bruce had nothing better to do. 

He put Cass on his back when five minutes turned to ten and the line had only inched down a little. It was nice, the two of them playing the say what you see game, Bruce marvelling yet again that a few years ago Cass might not have known what the word for bee was, nevermind know it in three different languages now. 

He set Cass down when they got near the front, “Do you know what you’re going to say to her?”

Cass shook her head. “Have to speak?”

“Not if you don’t want to.” He knew it was only an actress under the wig and makeup, Cass did too, but he also knew that didn’t matter. Ariel was who finally got through to Cass. She was a girl who had her voice taken from her and had to rely on other ways to talk. She showed Cass that it didn’t matter whether she could, or she couldn’t talk because the prince fell in love with her anyway. Ariel had made a life without needing to speak, and while the Little Mermaid perhaps was a movie that sent out a little sexist message, Cass had seen the other message it showed. The one about hope, and persevering, because in the end Ariel had won, and Cass could win too. Whether that was speaking or sticking to sign language the rest of her life. “I can speak for you if you like?”

Cass thought about it for a moment before slowly shaking her head.

The line moved. Then moved again and Bruce got his phone out, turning his camera on and hoping he wouldn’t be mocked for his photography skills by Tim later. 

Their visit was short, Bruce snapping twenty photos as the lady played up Ariel as best as she could. Cass was beaming throughout all of it, and at the end Bruce heard her say, “Thank you,” which pretty much summed up everything Cass wanted to say to her.

She took his arm, the two of them walking over to where the French section of Epcot lay. “Wanna get some croissants and take selfies in different countries?” Bruce asked.

Cass nodded, hugging his arm that little bit tighter.

They hit the stores after successfully getting enough photos for Bruce to fill another section of Cass’s photo album in the manor. They went to the souvenir stores after, Bruce swapping out the Mini bow on Cass’s ears with an Ariel one as they looked for the fluffiest looking flounder they could find. A juxtaposition, maybe, but Bruce would be damned if he was going to let his daughter sleep with something uncomfortable. 

They saw three more princesses before Bruce had a Dick on his back and Damian thrusting a phone in his face with photos of fish he’d seen at the seas. They had dinner before watching the night show, Jason ending up with Cass’s Mickey Ears as they went up to their hotel room. 

This time they all showered, Bruce pinning Tim down to slather after sun on him, and maybe persuading the poor kid to help him with his back since Bruce had definitely caught the sun today as well.

“Where to tomorrow?” Dick asked.

Bruce finished sending the last photo to Alfred before he said, “Hollywood studios,” noting out the corner of his eye as a bunch of pointed glances were sent Tim’s way.

Huh.

He didn’t dwell on it, showering himself before taking Damian’s sketchbook off him and turning the light off.

He probably should have paid attention to that look since somehow he ended up with Tim, and only Tim, the next day. Not even five minutes after stepping into the park he glanced away for a second and looked back to see only one of his kids.

Okay.

“I wanna go on the Tower of Terror,” Tim told him.

“Okay.” and that was that.

Gone was his easy days of wandering around in favour of waiting in line for rides that made his heart trill and stomach flutter. Tim had the day all planned out, Bruce looking over his shoulder to see a timetable of the rides and when they would be less busy. One by one they ticked them off, stopping at around four when nausea caught up to both of them. 

They relaxed in one of the cafe’s, Bruce resting his head on his arms until he could force the pile of sick in his throat down enough to drink his water. Tim didn’t look any better, both of them silently agreeing to find other things to do that weren’t ride related. 

“Okay Tim,” Bruce said, steering Tim to the entertainment, “Where to?”

He tapped his phone on his thigh for a few moments before hesitantly asking, “Could we get a few photos with the characters?”

“Sure?” what was it about him that had these kids so uncomfortable with him? “Who do you want to see?”

The answer was one of the Storm Troopers, then, when Tim looked no more happy than he had before, Bruce stopped them and asked again, “Who do you want to see?”

This time he got an actual answer, the two of them waiting in line to see Peter Pan. He knew Tim liked Star Wars well enough, he’d taken the kid to the newest one after all. But people didn’t go to Disneyworld for Storm Troopers. 

It was as Tim was watching one of the kids getting their photo took by their parents that Bruce maybe had an idea why Tim wanted to see the characters. Why he might have been hesitant in asking Bruce. He knew Tim’s parents were not the best. He also knew they had money and probably would have taken Tim to a Disney park at some point in his childhood. But the Drakes didn’t seem to be the kind of people who would stand in line for characters. Or if they did, they wouldn’t stand around for characters Tim actually liked, just ones that would look like they’d done the normal thing and took their kids to Disneyworld. 

So when they go to the front, instead of taking his phone out, Bruce asked the park photographer to get one of the both of them. He spent a lot of money, more than the budget allowed, for the photo pass, but it was worth it. In every character he forced out of Tim to meet he found one photo in each of them where the kid was looking at Bruce and beaming. 

Sure enough, “My parents never wanted to get photos with me,” Tim admitted as they waited outside the tower again. “I always wanted photos with Winnie the Pooh and, like, Wendy because, well, they got to go to all these cool places but they always said those movies were for babies and all the other kids my age had photos with Snow White and Cinderella. Who are still cool, but, I just didn’t want to meet them.”

Bruce listened to it all, hoping his face was neutral. He’d made a mistake of criticising the Drakes once to Tim and did not want to do it again. “Well I’m happy I’ve met them with you.”

Tim gave him a shy smile.

They got some ice cream, talking about nothing. Or about Tim getting a tattoo for his eighteenth. “I know you don’t want us to get one in case we’re found out-”

“Get one.” There were things they could do to counteract a tattoo. “It might actually be better for your cover.” Since if one and not the other had the tattoo they couldn’t link the two together. 

Then other things like wanting one of those collectible lightsabers to hang above his bed. Nerdy things that Bruce got the feeling he never talked to the others about. 

“We should go to comic con,” Bruce told him, “The one in New York,” since that one was nearer, “I’m surprised Dick’s never taken you, but we should go.” He liked movies. He liked watching them, liked the work that got put into them. They also had rare collectibles at those conventions. Like a Gray Ghost collectible DVD set that was being auctioned off only at the New York comic con.

“Are you serious?” Tim grinned.

“Course I am. Just you and me too. It was a stretch to get Damian to look into Walt Disney, I think I’ll give it a few months before trying comics.”

“Okay,” Tim said quietly. “I’d like that.”

More merchandise followed them to their hotel, Jason sporting an old fashioned key turned keychain so heavy Bruce was sure it could knock a guy out. He thought about confiscating it for all of three minutes, but Jason had been well behaved so far. All of them had been actually.

Was it Disneyland or the lack of Bruce’s presence with them? Maybe it was just being on vacation in general. Or the amount of sleep they were getting. Were Bruce’s kids that riled up because they were sleep deprived? If so he had plans to start implementing bed times when they got back home. 

He stood in the shower far longer than he had any right to when they got back. His shoulders were so burnt he could hear them sizzling, and his feet? God his feet ached. Yet no one banged on the door to hurry him out, they were all actually watching TV when he got out, Tim and Cass with towels wrapped around their midsection waiting for their own turn. 

Huh.

He pushed it aside, favouring resting his feet and sleep than trying to figure out his kids.

The answer came to him the next morning anyway when he made sure his surprise was in place. They were taking turns with him. Picking a day and spending it with him. Why he wasn’t so sure on, but he knew for a fact they were leaving him with just one of them for a reason.

He didn’t really know how to feel about it, but, again, they had their reasons, and Bruce had a surprise to spring on them. One he delivered in a bunch of envelopes he’d ordered special made from Ebay.

They were all suitably wowed. Even Tim, who knew, took one look at the envelopes and gasped, “You didn’t,” gently ripping the wax seal and laughing like a madman when he saw the inside.

Jason was the next to get it, “Is this a Hogwarts letter?” was drowned out by his hands doing the same as Tim’s, the letter, and the park ticket, falling into his hands, “We’re going to Universal?”

“No way!” Dick bounced, all of them begging him for their ‘allowance’, nevermind they had their cards on them, so they could go buy a wand.

He handed it over anyway, hurrying them to the front for their ubers. When they landed, he caught Dick’s jacket before he could run off, sensing that he definitely had tomorrow, “Meet at the entrance at nine Dick.”

“Sure thing,” he saluted, not even waiting for Damian’s tiny legs and picking the kid up to run up the stairs. 

The others followed, leaving Bruce with the actual kid he was kind of hoping to spend the day with. Well, he wanted to spend it with everyone, but Bruce was sort of glad things had evened out to this, purposeful or not. 

He bumped Jason’s shoulder, “You ready to go to Hogwarts?”

Jason rolled his eyes, “There are other things there.”

True, “But are you going to go on them?”

That Jason didn’t answer, the two of them walking up to the entrance instead. 

He picked up a map, leading Jason down the Toon Town streets and Jurassic ride- “For Gods sake we can go on it,” Jason huffed, detouring down to the velociraptor pen.

After Bruce got himself a raptor ranger cap they were back on the path to Diagon Alley, the whole place far busier than Bruce imagined. 

“Bet you’re wishing you had one of those kid leads huh?” Jason noted.

He wasn’t going to deny it that was for sure. 

Ollivanders was their first stop, Jason taking an age and a half to look over all the wands before Bruce found the park original wands. 

“They’re more expensive,” Jason huffed when Bruce asked for the interactive ones. “I can just get a normal one.”

“The fun is in the experience,” And Bruce had lost out on that one time, he wasn’t doing it again. “Consider it a birthday treat I never got to give you Jay.”

“When you put it like that,” Jason huffed, avoiding Bruce’s eye. Yet he took his wand like it really was going to start doing magic in front of him, Bruce grabbing one of the Wizarding World maps and taking them to each place the wand interacted with. 

The thing about Jason and Dick was that they weren’t afraid to have fun. If Bruce were here with Tim, he knew the kid would have been hesitant in brandishing his arm out and pretending he was a wizard. Hell he had been yesterday and they were just taking photos with characters. Dick was just naturally inquisitive, always had been. He wasn’t afraid to have fun and Bruce was honestly jealous of that sometimes. Jason, too, was a little like that, only his inquisitiveness was born from a life where he wasn’t allowed it. Jason was a kid of opportunity, and if life was giving him a chance to say weird latin phrases and have water come out of a fountain then Jason was damn well going to do it. 

They spent almost all day in the Wizarding World alone. Between the rides, the dragon insisted on waiting fifteen minutes to see breathe fire, the fact he wanted his photo taken everywhere and his shopping habits Bruce wasn’t surprised. They stopped off at the Leaky Cauldron before heading to see the others, Jason sniggering at the attempt of fish and chips the theme park had attempted.

“Alfred would be crying,” Jason laughed.

“It’s not that bad,” it tasted nice, but apparently theme parks didn’t know the difference between wedges and chips. Something that was highly debated in the Wayne household whenever Alfred was present. Just like all cookies weren’t cookies. Some were biscuits, and what Americans called biscuits were some kind of weird scone. 

A flash caught his eye, Jason grinning as he stuck another wedge in his mouth, “I’m sending it to Alfred.”

They grabbed butterbeer for their last Hogwarts Express ride, catching Tim and Cass exiting as well, meaning they only had two to look for when they got to the exit.

“You guys have fun?” Bruce asked.

“Yes!” Tim grinned, all teeth, an interactive wand brandished high. “I got a sweater too. I was gonna get a Quidditch sweater but then I saw the Weasley ones, and they’re so hard to get online and…” Tim chatted the walk, Cass showing Bruce her own wand as Jason and Tim compared their purchases.

“I got a Quidditch sweater,” Cass told him. “And you.”

“That was very sweet of you,” he’d have to only wear it in the manor. If it got out he liked Harry Potter his street cred in the league would be done for. Clark would be okay with it. But Barry? He’d probably throw a fit that he hadn’t been invited to the whole vacation. Then Ollie would find out and probably take Barry to the studios in California just to rub it in his face and… it just wasn’t worth it. 

He wasn’t even surprised to see Dick with chocolate all over his face when they met up. Someone had been to the Chocolate Emporium. He was still eating half of what he’d bought, the ice cream dripping down his hands so much he honestly wasn’t sure the uber would let him in.

The walk up was full of sugar crashing moans and aching feet, Bruce catching Jason just before they walked in to make sure, “It was good right?”

There was a moments pause, then Jason nodded, a smile slowly creeping onto his face, “Yeah B. It was good.” He knocked his head onto Bruce’s shoulder, “Thanks.”

“I’m just glad I got you here bud.”

Day five, the last day of their vacation, started with Bruce waking to a fight. He should have seen it coming, no vacation happened without one. Yet they weren’t screaming like they usually did. Instead they were hissing, Tim and Damian puffing up to each other like Alfred seeing the neighbours cat before a thrown shoe had them deflating, Jason getting between them, his voice too low for Bruce to hear.

Whatever it was sent the two of them back to ignoring each other, peace restoring itself to the room.

Okay, he was starting to get it now. 

Through breakfast he noticed it too, the way Jason was purposefully putting himself between potential problems and deflating them before they could start. How he wasn’t rising to bait he probably would have in a different situation. How Dick was keeping out of it, eating his waffles with so much whipped cream Bruce was almost distracted thinking about keeping Dick off the big rides so he didn’t puke before remembering he was watching them for a purpose.

The shuttle ride he noticed them pairing off, Jason actually taking Damian’s hand and Damian letting him as they came to the Monorail. Dick was edging him away already, leaning over the railing to try and catch a glimpse of some kid he’d seen with a pillow pet he wanted. 

They got off, the glory of the Magic Kingdom near blinding him. When his eyes finally adjusted he saw it was just him and Dick, his oldest holding a map in hand with that same smile he’d had since he was nine years old. “Pirates first?”

“Pirates first,” Bruce agreed.

The lines were long, for which Bruce was thankful for today. It meant he could actually talk to Dick, listen to him. 

Tell him things like, “You know you’re not their father Dick.”

Dick paused in his explanation of just why they needed to go to Splash Mountain before noon, a shaky grin coming onto his face as he said, “I know.”

“I know.” He kept his tone as easy as he could. He wasn’t angry, and he didn’t want Dick to think he was, and tone, he’d learned, was everything. It was where he’d went wrong when Dick had been younger, and he really had been trying these days to work on it. “Which is why you shouldn’t act like it. I appreciate you, I do, and I’ve relied on you more than I probably should have. But you’re my kid Dick. They’re  _ my _ kids, and your siblings. Just because you’re the oldest it doesn’t mean you have to parent them. Hell I don’t want you to, you shouldn’t have to. If you think I’m not doing a good enough job you need to tell me, or let them tell me.”

“I-” Dick swallowed, the two of them moving a few people up, “I know that.”

Did he? It didn’t look like he did. “Dick I am so sorry if you thought you had to be their dad. I never should have made you feel that way.”

“Well you- I mean-” he breathed a little heavily. “Where’s this even coming from?”

“It’s coming from the fact that you’re a good kid. You’re such a good kid Dick but this is meant to be a family vacation. Meaning I’m the dad who’s supposed to put up with you lot having too much sugar, fighting over whose feet shouldn’t be in whose face and be grateful for it because I’m spending time with you.” He saw it now, “Dick you didn’t have to give me a perfect vacation, I just wanted to spend time with you. With all of you.”

Dick shuffled a little, “I know,” he said, “I know but, we just didn’t want you to have a bad time. You don’t take a lot of breaks B. I didn’t want you to look back and think ‘god what a stressful time, why did I even bother?’ You deserve to sit at a pool an-and not be listening to us yell and have to do a headcount because we’ve all got the attention span of rabbits apparently and-”

“Dick,” Rabbits huh? “This vacation was to spend time with you,” he said again since it didn’t appear to be setting in. “I can relax any time I want, but it’s very rare I get to spend time with all of you. Those fights? They’d be bad, and I can’t say I’d do as good as you and Jason have been in defusing them, but I would have liked to see them because it means that you’re all here, and you’re all talking and living.” He shuffled them up a few steps, “Dick I’m going to tell you something and I want you to hear me okay?”

Dick nodded.

“I know what a bunch of pure chaotic demons you are okay. I know. I raised you, and maybe some of that’s my influence,” Truthfully he blamed Clark, but still, “but I know you, and I know your siblings and I love that you’re all insanely energetic and opinionated. I love that I walk downstairs and you’re all loud and messy because it means you’re comfortable. That you’re safe and you’re happy and that’s all I want because I love you Dickie. And I haven’t said that enough. To you especially.”

Dick sniffed, burrowing sideways into a sort of hug, “You couldn’t have picked a better place than waiting in line for Splash Mountain?”

He grinned, resting his head on top of Dick’s, “It’s not my fault my vacation got highjacked.” 

They got soaked from Splash Mountain, Dick insisting it wasn’t fun unless they sat at the front, so Bruce was stuck with wet everything as they circled back to the Pirates of the Caribbean store and bought a pirate hat. The characters Dick didn’t have much interest in, namely because he’d met them before at the other parks. Mainly Dick just wanted to explore the castle, nearly tear his arm off trying to get the sword out of the stone and go on as many rides as possible.

“Do you remember when I brought you on these?” Bruce asked, the two of them crammed into a Dumbo.

“I was definitely smaller,” Dick agreed, arms already up. 

“We made Alfred get one of those sorcerers ears and they flew off.” He was in the car ahead Bruce remembered, not looking put out at all as he lost his ears. Bruce was pretty sure he’d planned the whole thing.

“Yeah and then he got the Mini ones as a replacement,” Dick said. Those ones he’d actually kept on the entire day. 

Dumbo was good. The Small World ride, Bruce just plain hated. After having an actual ventriloquist doll come after him more than once, and Bruce pretty sure the thing was possessed, he did not enjoy watching them robotically sing a song about how small the world was.

He got Dick a balloon, bad move he knew, around noon, the two of them charging their phones in the rest area as they ate the most expensive hotdogs on the planet. “We didn’t actually plan it you know,” Dick said around another bite.

“Plan what?”

“The day by day thing,” Dick took another bite, “But then Damian told us how nice it was to have you to himself, and you looked so relaxed so we just,” he shrugged. “Thanks for talking to Damian by the way. About his art?” Dick went on. “It’s a bit of a sore subject. He doesn’t think he should enjoy it because it’s got no real purpose in the world. Not like business or something. I’ve been trying to tell him for ages that it does but, I guess you have more weight than I do.”

“It’s not that,” Bruce said, “And again, I am his father. It also has something to do with the way you say things. I used to say things to Jason, then Tim, things about their parents and how they shouldn’t listen to them, because they were saying some pretty bad things. But kids,” Like Dick knew,” get defensive of their parents no matter what. If you were telling him to ignore his mother, he’s obviously not going to do that Dick. It’s best to just skew the truth a little.”

Dick nodded, finishing his hot dog, “Is that what you did?”

Bruce shrugged, “I mean, I told him Talia left him with me because she wanted him to be happy, and that Talia trusts me to know what that is. It’s sort of true, and I think that’s why he listened.”

Dick nodded again. “Well he’s happy. I had to buy him another sketchbook yesterday because he filled his old one. Apparently the ‘paper is not of quality Grayson’ but he seems happy enough with it.”

Bruce smirked, happy to hear Dick making fun of one of his brothers instead of defending them like he usually did to Bruce. “I told him to look into animation. But I was thinking, maybe next year, we could go to Italy, maybe visit some of the old churches in Venice and the Vatican museum. The art there is important to the world, maybe if he sees just how much it’s integrated in life he won’t be so shy about it.”

Dick smiled up at him, “That’s actually not a bad idea.”

“And you’d get your wish to go to Europe,” Bruce nodded, charging his phone for a few minutes more before they moved on.

They went on every ride Dick wanted, some of them even twice before Dick got the pillow pet of his dreams. They hunkered down near the front, the parade long gone and people around them starting to do the same as the fireworks show neared. 

“Hey Bruce?” Dick asked.

He hummed, glaring another lady away from the spot he was stretching out to keep. She glared back, taking her kid a little further behind, muttering about millenials and ruining it for the adults with actual children. Well joke was on her since Bruce had five, one of whom only ten.

“I know you were bummed about not having all of us together, but this has been nice right?”

“Of course,” he said immediately, “You know I love spending time with you Dick.” It had been nice too, this lack of responsibility. The chance to actually speak to his son for the first time in a while. Still, “Maybe when we go to Europe we keep everyone together though okay? I don’t trust Tim around those europeans.”

“Tim?” Dick barked back, cackling on his Donald pillow.

“Have you seen him talk to people? I worry about that child.”

That sent Dick even harder into hysterics.

It was the noise that undoubtedly helped the rest of Bruce’s chaos demons find them. It was like when one wolf howled to signal the rest of the pack of its location. One by one they filed in, Jason looking a little harried but happy. His kids really were the best for doing this for him. 

The lights dimmed as they filled him in on their day, Bruce standing with the rest of the crowd and hoisting Damian on his shoulders. Two minutes and the announcer came on, the streets flooding with light and fireworks booming over a dancing castle. Tomorrow they’d be too tired to even walk, and with a plane to catch Bruce would lament that his kids couldn’t get themselves out of bed even if the house was on fire. But right then, with Damian on his shoulders, Tim trying to capture every firework he could on his phone, Jason boostin Cass so she could see and Dick leaning on his shoulder he couldn’t have asked for a better set of kids.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think I've wrote anything as fluffy as this for a while. I think the world needed it though. I certainly enjoyed writing it anyway.


End file.
